The third of the Parnassius family that occur in France, the other two being the Apollo (P.  apollo) and Small Apollo (P. phoebus). I am not sure how to determine the sex of mnemosyne, as T&L gives two illustrations of a male upperside and none of a female, unless (as is likely) one is mis-labelled. H&R, however, states that the female is similar to the male although the markings are more extensive, and that the upper surface (dorsum) of the abdomen is black and glabrous (free from hair).

It is a butterfly of the mountains but not necessarily very high altitudes, Lafranchis giving the minimum altitude as 700m. I first saw mnemosyne in Switzerland in 2008, the battered individual 13003. It has a fairly early flight period, May-June, so showing wear by early July and clearly 13003 was at the very end of its flight period. I next saw mnemosyne in several locations in the Alpes-Maritimes in 2010, mostly singles, but several were flying in one location.

There is one historic location in the département of Var, but there are doubts as to whether it still occurs there. The French population of mnemosyne has been divided in six separate subspecies, the Var subspecies being cassiensis.

The females of all three French Parnassius species have a device at the end of the abdomen to prevent mating when it has already done so, called a sphragis. I believe it to be a waxy structure applied by males after copulation which then hardens. The mnemosyne female sphragis is particularly large. An example of this can be seen on 21269 and 21270.

observations

possibly a male, as the abdomen is hairy and the female abdomen is described as hairless. Often, though, individuals at the very end of the flight period will be females.

this may be a female based on the body width and lack of hair, and the heavier markings on the uph.

this is clearly a female as the sphragis is clearly visible at the end of the abdomen.

this is the same butterfly as 21269 and this side view better shows the sphragis and its size.